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the longest beard, the biggest nose, the strangest faces. we have the new world record holders. good morning, i'm alex witt. welcome to msnbc saturdays. workers are working to seal the bp spill. the catastrophe began april 20th at the deep water horizon oil rig that led to the gushing well, gushing 206,000 barrels of oil into the gulf. what are the crews doing to get this thing wrapped up? >> good morning, alex. we could be hours away from hearing this well is permanently sealed off. we are talking the relief wells we have spent months and months now talking about. they have drilled the first one two and a half miles below the gulf. intercepted thursday and yesterday, they began pumping in the cement for the bottom kill.

it's unlikely they are waiting for the cement to cure. once they do pressure tests, they will declare it dead. bp expects to do that sometime today. great news for bp here. it's a milestone to the recovery. the oil hasn't flowed into the gulf for about 65 days since they did the static kill. there's still a lot of oil out there. it continues to wash ashore here in louisiana, almost on a daily basis. just this week, they collected 25,000 gallons of oil or so here in louisiana. they are still dealing with the clean up here and that is likely to go on for some time. so, people here excited that this is finally going to be that de declaration. it's a long road ahead for them. >> it is.

for the fishing or tourism industry, did things pick up in july? was there evidence to say things were getting better? >> reporter: yeah, we see the guys going out fishing again here every day. they have opened up some of the federal water that is were closed to fishing. the issue here is they made their living taking out tourists that would come down here. this is one of the most famous fishing spots in the country. they think it's going to be some time before that picked up. right now, the hotels and lodges are filled up with bp workers, coast guard workers on the spill. it could be some time before they see the tourism come up. there's the concern of eating seafood from the gulf. the government says it's the most tested food on the planet, it's a tough sell for people. that's been tough for them as well, selling the fish and

shrimp they collect here. >> thanks for that. >> you bet. >> let's go to afghanistan where polls are open for parliamenpar. good morning john. how are things going? have the polls closed? >> the polls are closed. despite the violence, there was obviously some taliban attacks. the taliban claims they have attacked 150 out of the more than 5,000 polling places across the country. the election observers say none of that caused major or systematic disruption of the elections. there have been complaints rolling into the official observers throughout the day. some things you might hear about in american elections. lack of polling papers or shortage of polling papers.

some opened late. there are other complaint that is seemed unusual or might seem unusual to u.s. voters. at one polling place, a woman showed up with 1,500 voter registration cards and tried to vote proxy. another showed up with 1,600 cards and triied to vote by proy as well. results may not be known for several days. it won't be until the end of october before official results are known. this is a big test of afghan security to see if they can keep voters safe, but it was a test in the afghan people's faith in the government to hold a free election. the presidential election, 1 million ballots were thrown out

because of irregularities. some of the people did not vote because they didn't have much faith in the system. they felt no matter how they voted, it wouldn't make a difference. the people, the leaders wanted to win would win. others were saying that especially in areas where the tall pan is strong, were saying they were determined to vote despite the threats of the taliban violence. voters dipped their fingers in ink to try to prevent repeat voting. some said they were fearful if the taliban saw them with the ink on their fingers they would be executed. they were determined to go out and vote. >> thank you john yang. hurricane karl is blamed for the death of two people. the storm caused widespread damage including power outages. it's now a tropical depression.

hurricane igor gains strength in the atlanta. bill karecar karins has the lat. >> the storm is going to head to bermuda sunday night. it's a huge storm. it's not as intense as it once was. this storm is very large in size. it's texas big. it's going to bring wind and waves to bermuda today. itis not going to hit until tomorrow night. the area in orange is the wind field. it's huge. it's going to make its way to per buddha. the swells will be on the east coast of the united states. the rip current will be high saturday and on sunday. let's take a look at the forecast from the national hurricane center. it's going to a major hurricane, a category 3 tonight, during the day tomorrow. as it approaches bermuda, a category 3 or category 2 hurricane. it's enough to do significant

damage. the computer models have been this way for four or five days in a row. it's bermuda. it's going to go over the top of the tiny island. you can see where the island is. the lines show the potential path of the storm. the worst for bermuda is if it is to the left. that's the strongest side of the storm. i want to update everyone on karl. it's pretty much done. it dissipated in the mountains of mexico. it made land fall miles of vera cruz. the rest of the tropics, after we are done with igor is quiet. there's one coming off the coast of africa. we'll deal with that in a week or so. after igor, we get a break. all eyes on bermuda this weekend. >> thanks bill. it's a political reality. politicians heading for a run to the white house head to iowa.

it's no surprise sarah palin's visit is generating major buzz about her possible bid for the oval office in 2012. good morning mike. >> reporter: good morning, alex. >> i want to get the reaction from you. what is it like? >> reporter: any trip to iowa, especially when it's sarah palin, it's her first trip since the gop vice president nomination. will she or won't she? she has rock star status among the conservative base. will she or can she translate the popularity into a successful presidential run? sarah palin in iowa. >> showing love to the home teams. >> reporter: getting a welcome from party faithfuls at the battleground. palin laughed off speculation about her plans for an oval office run. todd says i don't know. i think you should go downstairs and run on that treadmill.

i said why would i want to stay indoors. todd says, i guarantee you, if anybody sees you in tennis shoes, they are going to say palin in iowa decides to run. >> reporter: fresh out of a string of candidates she backed. palin was disdainful of leaders in her party. >> i don't know who they are that strategize and organize in the hierarchy and gop machine. >> reporter: republicans on the verge of big gains, palin issued a call for party unity. >> this is it gop. this is our time. we can't blow it gop. >> reporter: many are looking beyond november and her decision to go to iowa. it's seen as a sign she will run. >> given the enormous support she's got and the people she's endorsed, i think there's going

to be a grass roots movement clamoring for her to get in the race. a movement that would be profoundly disappointed if she does not. >> reporter: her popularity isn't universal. many dependers are lukewarm. experts say it makes for a rough road for palin if she decides to run. >> it will be hard for her to broaden her appeal. she goes back to the same kind of messages, the same kind of language and style. it's a folksy style that generates some people and turns off others. >> reporter: it's interesting. i had a chance to ask robert gibbs for his interpretation of sarah palin's trip to iowa and whether or not she was a threat to the president in 2012. it's a question that's openly speculative. an indication the white house likes that comparison, president obama against subpoena, he says clearly she's going there to dip

a toe in the presidential waters. alex. >> you got an answer. nice going. mike viqueira. thank you for that. >> reporter: okay. an admission by lindsay lohan. she failed a court order drug and alcohol test. she's prepared to appear before a judge if asked. it could mean probation violation and more jail time. the 24-year-old finished a stint. pope benedict celebrates mass in britain and addresses the church sex abuse scandal head on. what could drive a woman to throw acid on her own face and make up the story about the attack? details. which is better, sex or shopping? results of the study may shock you.

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pope benedict is apologizing for sexual abuse by priests. the apology came at london cathedral. it follows the arrest of six people. nina is joining me live from hyde park. first, let's get to the pope and what he said. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, alex. yes, it's day three and arguably the most important so far of the pope's visit to britain. there's no let-up in the busy agenda or the news flow. today's events began at the westminster cathedral and he celebrated mass. during that mass, he chose that moment to make his most public statement about the child abuse scandal.

thousands of young faces gathered, each eager for a glimpse of their spiritual leader. today, pope benedict came face-to-face. >> it's encouraging he came here. i can't wait to hear what he has to say. >> reporter: he began his visit on thursday touching down in scotland. there to welcome him, a head of state and religion, the queen. this is the first visit since king henry viii nearly 500 years ago. never since has a british monarch shared the podium. after greeting crowds, the pope held a mass for 65,000. the ceremony graced fwi voice of an angel. ♪

>> reporter: on day two, a more complicated trip to london. they waived their security concerns. among them, baby ellie whose mother was moved. >> the holy father was blessing her and kissing her. i broke into tears. this is very special. >> reporter: the pope delivered a message. centuries ago, britain's catholic martyr was sentenced to death. >> economic activity has contributed to the grave difficulties now being experienced by millions of people throughout the world. >> reporter: later, another first. the pope met an anglican woman priest. the church of england has been at odds with the vatican for hundreds of years. at a time of growing apathy, the pope's visit called attention to

the role of faith like never before. so, security has been incredibly tight especially after yesterday's arrests of six men. those men are still being held in custody, alex. so far, what we do know is that eight houses have been raided across london and already the security arrangements for the pope's visit have been reviewed, as a result. the real force will come here add hyde park. we are expecting 65,000 people to turn out far vigil the pope will be hosting. >> thank you, nina. a pairless position for the gop. the tea party takes aim at the establishment. the latest conservative star is christine o'donnell in delaware. she says she has a message for washington. >> this is america.

the ruling class elites may try, but they will never have the last word on liberty. there's something about our national dna that insists on shouting at those who would be our masters, you are not the boss of me. >> let's bring in christina, a senior reporter for talking points memo. good morning, again. hi, alex. in some states they are not much of a threat at all. rand paul, despite his view that is a lot of republicans think are outside of the mainstream, he's likely to be elected there. in delaware, this is a very unlikely seat for the republicans to win now that christine o'donnell is on the scene. it's going to determine what's going to happen. alaska is -- joe miller thinks

he has a shot. >> alaska not with standing, do you think with all the momentum of the tea party and the buzz around it, are establishment republicans stuck around the corner? does the gop have to embrace it or not? >> they are embracing it. you hear them thank them. there will be tea party ideas included in the new republican contract with america or contract for america that's coming nup a few weeks. republicans are taking the ideas. it's moving the party further to the right. the democrats like that. the tea party is where the energy is this year. so, it's all to be determined what will happen in november. >> with all the talk about the republicans taking back control of congress, does the tea party help accomplish that or hinder it? >> well, in many cases, there are tea party candidates,

independent candidates, candidates that say they will not vote for the republican nominee. the tea party doesn't like roy. he has a good chance of winning. the tea party throw as wrench in it. >> christina, thanks so much. >> thanks. up next, the top trends emerging from new york city's fashion. how good does it feel to score a hot bargain? for some people, it is just as good as x-rated fun. details are next. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's a symbol of confidence... ♪ ...honor... ♪ ...and trust...

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we have the u.s. correspondent for women's daily. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> how do you see this, the subtle color that is dominated this week? >> it seems as though it's the encounter for what's been going on the past few seasons, the fitted look. now, there's a wider range of colors. there's really an assortment to choose from. >> okay. why do you think the change? why are these colors are non-bright colors it big one for this year? >> they suggested there's a theme of escapism that's cropped up in some of the colors and people are thinking of far off locals and taking themselves away from every day chores through color. >> is that how it's playing out on the runways?

>> it's cyclical and different to the fashion styles that hads been offered previous seasons. >> how important is affordability these days? i know they are trying to show their style and creativity and make statements. do they take affordability into factor? >> they certainly do. a number of stores said they were extremely pleased with the color palette this time because it is more suitable to a wide range of people. it's also safe and it's something that many people can tap into and buy and wear. it's not so extreme that it's just more approachable for a lot of people. >> there's kind of a loosening up. i mean, would you agree with that? and the lengthening of the hems. do they want people to chill out

and relax? >> it could be a factor. it's different than what's been offered before. it's also easier. it's more comfortable. it's just very different. >> yeah, a lot of us are looking forward to spring. it's easy, breezy kind of thing. more designers have the offshoot lines. now, the retailers, you have vera wang at khols. do you think it's going to be more of a trend? >> it really has become more of the every day business. people want to reach people all across the country with their produc products. it's not necessarily high end. by selling at target or kohls, the audience is wider than

someone who might by couture. how good does it feel to find a great bargain? it's just like sex. shoppers experience the same amount of endor fins. 50 volunteers looked at pornographic pictures while scientists monitored it. they experienced the same amount of excitement. we should note, the institute of promotional marketing conducted the study. yeah, yeah, yeah. get that. ♪

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an apologetic pope benedict is using his four-day state

visit to reshape the image of the catholic church abrord. george weigel joins me. he's the author of the end and the beginning. good morning to you, george. >> good morning, alex. >> the main purpose of this trip is exactly what, from the vatican perspective? >> the main purpose is to strengthen the catholic church in england, scotland and whales. in some respects they have become aggressively secular to hold open a place for people of religious conviction in the british public square. >> i want to pick up where our conversation left off. you said that you believe the media should let up a little bit and acknowledge the fact that pope benedict is doing his best to deal with the catholic church sex scandals.

that said, where does the blame lie in how this was done? does it lie at the feet of his pred assessor, the wildly popular pope john paul ii? >> i don't think so. it's at the feet of the priests who betrayed their office and abused the church. the blame belongs with bishops that failed to act aggressively and deal with the problems. it lies with a therapeutic culture. men who are addicted of this problem of the sexual abuse of the young could be fixed therapeutically. the blame lies with all the church for failing to live seriously the commands of christ. benedict xvi has called the church back to the fidelity, to the truth of christian faith that is the absolutely essential

answer to preventing these problems in the future and the healing the pain that remains from these problems in the past. >> george, when we first began hearing about the allegations of abuse within the catholic church, it was shocking, repudiating and people had an appalling reaction to it. that said, it seems so widespread that when we hear about it anymore, we look at the individual with certainly a sense of pity, but it's almost something that it's become rather run of the mill. i mean, how widespread is the problem? >> i think there's been frankly, alex, tremendous exaggeration with respect to the church. this is no sense a catholic church problem. it's an enormous problem in

american public schools. it's an enormous problem in the trafficking, the sex trafficking of young people around the globe. the intense focus of the church on this deflected attention from the broader dimensions of the problem. i think it's deflected attention from the fact that today, because of reforms put into place over the last eight years, catholic church is the safist institution in the country. >> interesting fact, the idealization with celebrity, the pope warned thousands of school children not to do that. he says fame and fortune don't bring happy ensz. what has the reception been like? >> there's a charming address. there's a tendency to make him come off as scold. he's not that.

he's got a personality with young people. he said, look, when you are young, you look for something to look up to. you look for people to look up to. the answer to that yearning to touch greatness is to touch the face of god. you can touch the face of god, he invited them through an encounter through jesus christ in the church. to be a saint, he suggested is really all of our human destinies. it's the road to true human happiness. it was remarkable. quite accepting and indeed intrigue. these are not the kind of thing that is get said to british school kids. >> certainly not. thank you for weighing in. appreciate that. >> thank you. sympathy is replaced by shock and confusion as investigators are trying to determine why a washington woman intentionally disfigured herself

by burning her face with acid. what would cause a person to do this? crime analysis clint van zandt is here to help answer that. good morning, clint. >> alex, always good to be with you. we always get the hard questions. >> we do. why would someone harm themselves this way? >> it's not necessarily attention getting. it's not necessarily a cry for help. it's not necessarily an attempt of suicide. sometimes when people do something like this to themselves. cdc tells us 4% of the u.s. population, over 12 million people and somewhere between 10% and 40% of college students during their four years will do some form of self-harm to themselves. all those three quarter of a million people show up in emergency rooms because they

have intentionally hurt themselves. in a case like this, this woman attacks her face. we spend $5 billion a year on cosmetics to feel better. there's something psychologically about this woman that she doesn't like. she doesn't like it about herself. this situation got out of control. there is a significant segment of the population that do things like this to themselves. she did it in a small way. the media caught hold of it. it became a monster and ran away from her. is she sorry she did it? i'm sure she is. she had her own reasons for doing this. it has something to do with the inner person and the value she places on herself. >> to add to the burden of dealing with this psychologically and the whys behind this, should she face responsibility for what she did and the waste of manpower, police, investigators and pay thag back?

>> this is one case, we remember suzanne smith who said an african-american male kidnapped her children and ran away with them. we know she strapped them in baby seats and put the car in water. this is a person reaching out, fumbling around and accusing someone, again, african-american, someone of another race of having done this. the combination of hurting racial relationships we are trying to build in the united states and number two, wasting the manpower and the international sympathy, should she be responsible? she should. but, we have to balance that with her delicate psychological position. if she was hurting before this, she is really hurting now. i think the criminal justice system has to take that into consideration. >> all right clint. thanks for weighing in. >> thanks, alex.

>> octomom is facing problems. she is going on welfare. it's on top of reports the mother of 14 is facing foreclosure on her home, once again. let's get the details from alexis from radar online. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> what do you know about her going on welfare? >> she's run out of money. she was banking on a reality show and it didn't pan out. she doesn't have a dime to pay extensions. she's struggling to pay for food. she has her kids in a christian school they are given for free. she doesn't have a way to generate income. it's the end for her. she has to go on welfare. >> is anyone advising her? is she getting help what so ever in making good choices? >> no, it doesn't seem like it. she has a lawyer, but she makes all the decisions herself.

from having six kids, then eight more, she doesn't make decisions based on long term thought. it's the here and the now. she has no plans for the future for the kids. no way to generation income. the man that owns it house is planning on foreclosing on it immediately. >> the money to live off was the reality show or is there something else in the works? >> she's written a book, which we reported on. it's about her life. no one wants to publish it. everyone has turned her down. the story that perhaps a year and a half ago would have been explosive isn't anything anybody is interested in reading now. unfortunately for her, the one thing she banked on isn't going to pan out. >> i have to wonder. 14 kids. does she have the money to pay for help? what is the day-to-day life like?

>> she has one nanny that helps out at night. the older children are back in school. the little ones, she spends 24 hour as day with. she's estranged from her parents. she has a few friends. she can't afford help. the one nanny she promised to pay her in the future. she's working for free. she's as close to being on welfare as you can get now. she needs government assistance to pay her bills. >> is there anyone saying this woman is a sad case, we have to help her out? is there ground swell on that? >> right now, there's not. she's been very involved with her church. hopefully, they can step up to the plate. everybody is financially strapped. both of her parents in the past helped her. her dad gave her initial money for the house. there's a stigma that was placed on her. what started as good will turned

to emptiness. she doesn't have anybody to step up. now, no one is willing to step up to the plate. >> it's hard to think of with 14 kids lives hanging there. >> thanks so much from radar online. more americans lost their homes to foreclosures last month than any month. when will it let up? can you figure out what world record he sets? workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.

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despite the efforts to fix the nation's housing market woes, a new report says foreclosure activity increased by 4% in the month of august. that means bank repossessions hit a record high for the third time in months. a new poll indicates 36% of americans think it's okay to walk away from a mortgage under certain circumstances.

joining us to explain the numbers is tara nicole nelson. good morning. >> good morning. >> i want to get a better understanding of this. what is the difference between this and the actual foreclosure number? >> this data set that came out yesterday covers two distinct data points in terms of foreclosures. the first is repossessions. they are home that is are actually sold at auction or taken back by the bank. it's a subset or foreclosure activity. both of the data sets are covered in the report. foreclosure activity, the wider number covers everything from filings of notices of default when the mortgage is late. it also includes it actual reposessed homes. the record that was set is in terms of the number of homes reposessed. the homes taken back by the bank.

what do the numbers tell us about the trend here? >> it's not great. i will tell you 95,000 homes -- 95 -- i'm sorry, 950,000 homes taken back by the bank just last month. when you look at what it looks like over time, it's the third record that's been set in months. it's dramatically up over a year. we're talking a 25% increase year over year. in the whole year of 2005, only 100,000 homes were taken back by the bank. we are talking the same number of homes taken back in a month that was taken back in a year in 2005. >> what states are hit the hardest? >> there's definitely a trend here. the states at the top of the list are really, really struggling. california is at the top of the list. 20% of all -- the whole nation's

activity. 20% in california. florida is right behind with 17%. michigan, illinois and arizona had 5%. listen to this, these five states account for over 50% of the entire nation's foreclosure activity. wow. folks living there don't want to hear that. thank you for weighing in appreciate that. >> thank you. a city bus driver in portland, oregon is on leave as they investigate him reading an e-book while driving. it was with a bus full of people. passengers saw it on his dash board. they decided to use his cell phone to catch him reading while driving. come on. [ animals calling ] ♪ [ pop ] [ man ] ♪ well, we get along ♪ yeah, we really do

- ♪ and there's nothing wrong - [ bird squawks ] ♪ with what i feel for you ♪ i could hang around till the leaves are brown and the summer's gone ♪ [ announcer ] when you're not worried about potential dangers, the world can be a far less threatening place. take the scary out of life with travelers insurance... and see the world in a different light. you hear what they're up to now? some in congress are getting squeezed by the special interests again. trying to delay action and give polluters free reign to keep dumping toxic pollution into the air. the air our children breathe. letting big oil lobbyists get their way again, and again, and again. it's a last-minute bill, written by special interests, looking for a payback. washington politicians need to get off the dime, and not let corporate polluters off the hook.

from the freakish to the fierce, guiness world records is out with the new 2010 edition. you will not believe some of the winners. u.s. spokesperson with guiness world records. good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> the longest beard. let's take a look. >> indeed. this is a priest at a temple in canada. his beard is 7'9" long. a bit of a guiness world record classic. that gets him into this year's book. >> how about the longest career as an ice cream man. >> you wouldn't know it, would you. this is charlie. he's been an ice cream man for 30 years. he's been driving his truck around new jersey, which is where he hails from. putting smiles on children's faces for all that time. a fair play to him.

>> hats off to him, for sure. >> here is one that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. the most kicks to the head. come on. what is that? >> there's a little bit of everything. this is nick. he came up to us at an event last year. he wanted to get into the guiness world record books. i said kick yourself in the head. he did it 77 times tieing the guiness world record. a fair play to him. >> he's got to have strong abs, wow. >> what about the next guy. the longest nose in the world. how long it is? >> this man is from turkey. from the bridge to the tip is 3.46 inches long. yet, again, another of the human body records that are in this year's book. we gone congratulate late him for being there, for sure. >> talk about hurting. the next one is a man pulling a

double decker bus with his hair? >> he tried to do it with his ears and didn't make it. this is during gwr day every november. he pulled an eight ton bus 69 feet last year. he's very thrilled about it. we are happy to celebrate him as well. >> my head hurts just looking at that one. >> what about the man that won the most competitions for strange faces. >> he doesn't seem pleased with himself. this is tommy. this is a tradition that dates back in england. it's trying to contort your face as much as possible. this is the champion. he's won more than anyone else, an amazing 11 times. as you can see, he's really, really happy about that. >> he's really good at it. if someone is watching and they have a great idea, how does

someone approach guiness? how do you get verified? >> you have to go to guinessworldrecords.com. that's where the 50,000 requests get entered. we have a team that processes the data. hopefully, we can get back to you with a yeah or neigh. >> lewis, it's a good job you have, i have to admit. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> much more news coming your way. tours of space could be a reality if you have a couple million bugs on hand. 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®.

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